Erik Stokkebye 4th Generation 1882 Founder's Blend

The Cyprian Latakia is smoky, woody, earthy, sweet and is the most obvious tobacco, though it’s just past being moderate in force. The ever present Orientals are smoky, woody with a little dryness, mild sour, floral, herbal notes, and some spice in a secondary role. The Kentucky is a little nutty sweet, spicy, woody, herbal, floral and earthy as it adds some force to the blend. It's just above being a secondary player. The mature Virginias have a fermented tangy dark fruit and tart citrus sweetness with some earth, wood and a light grassiness. They form the base of the product. The spice continually tingles your tongue, but there’s no chance of bite even if you puff fast. No dull or harsh spots to be found. The strength and taste levels are medium. The nic-hit is a couple of steps past the center of mild to medium. Well balanced, you notice every component in every puff. Burns at moderate pace with cool, clean, spicy sweet, mostly smooth, campfire flavor that translates the slightly lingering, pleasant after taste. Requires an average number of relights. Leaves little dampness in the bowl. Has a tolerable campfire room note. It’s medium strength, but is close to being an all day smoke if you choose.

-JimInks

This is a very enjoyable blend, one that I could easily smoke any time. My sample was a touch on the dry side but it was not too far off the mark from what I prefer. When first lit, the flavor is somewhat sweet, a bit smoky, and relatively herbal tasting. As the pipe gets going the herbal flavors build and the smoke delivers a cool minty sensation on the palate. Overall this tobacco is very mellow and even by the mid-bowl point it remains incredibly smooth, flavorful, and similar to what one might expect from a mixture with a lot more age on it. Furthermore, I found it to be almost entirely devoid of the typical spiciness found in similar blends. The Latakia flavor is still fairly forward but it’s nicely balanced by the sweetness of the other tobaccos. Mild mannered? Check. Medium flavor and body? Check. Founder’s Blend is also well behaved, tasty and it burns nicely. Overall this is a well crafted blend.

Don't overlook this excellent, well-mannered English, because I'd put it in the top 2 percent of all English mixtures available, which is saying something.

Although it may seem like just another English made in Denmark, it rises above the pack in terms of quality of leaf and unique blending.

The Kentucky combines with well aged VAs to form a silky, slightly sweet, chewy backdrop for the moderate amount of Latakia and orientals, which skillfully play off the base , keeping things interesting, but always very civilized. One always tastes all the ingredients, carefully melded together.

The Virginias are of the slightly sweet variety, the Kentucky is noticed from the beginning and even more at the bottom of the bowl, but it never becomes "strong". A buttery smooth smoke which has an "aged quality" from the beginning.

Can't recommend this one enough. It obviously has flown below the radar for many.

I recently purchased and smoked the full line-up of Eric's new blends and have been impressed by all of them. They were well thought out as was this one. It is an English blend but with a twist. The Kentucky adds some power to the full tasting Latakia to provide what I call a sledgehammer English!

Pipestud

1882 is one of the best medium Englishes that I have smoked recently. The whole field of medium strength English blends is a very crowded one and it takes a blend like 1882 to get noticed. I agree with reviewers Drums & Beer 2014-02-13 and Ducksbreath 2015-10-13 that this blend looked and smoked as if it had about fifteen years of tin aging on it. It also had an aged English aroma about it. It smokes soft and never comes close to biting. The mixture of aged Virginias ES uses give an interesting background note to the latakia while the Kentucky gives it a little punch. Really enjoyable - 4 stars.

This sublime blend really stands out in a very crowded field. There isn't much I can add to DrumsAndBeer's (customarily) spot-on review (and Ducksbreath's as well), other than that I think this stellar, uniquely sweet English deserves a solid 4 stars. Outstanding. I can see this quickly becoming my go-to English. This is my first Erik Stokkebye; I will be trying others.

I stumbled upon Erik Stokkebye’s 4th Generation 1882 blend about six months into my pipe smoking, and could not be more pleased as it was first my introduction to an English blend tobacco.

Opening the tin revealed a uniformly blended coarse ribbon cut that smelled sweet and smoky. Everything about this tobacco proved to be pleasant. It packed nicely, was easy to light, and rarely required relights. The smoke was thick and creamy, smelled faintly of campfire and had an incense quality about it. It burned evenly all the way to the bottom of the bowl every smoke. Of the two pipes in which I smoked this blend, I found it was most enjoyable in a Missouri Meerschaum Country Gentleman, which has a generous and fairly wide sized bowl. I suspect it is best enjoyed in pipes with similarly wide sized bowls. The only criticism I have to offer is that I found the occasional rough stem of lightly colored tobacco in the mix - these were easily removed and discarded.

Immediately after finishing my tin of Erik Stokkebye - 4th Generation 1882, I opened a tin of Peterson’s Old Dublin. I found them to be similar, but my preference goes to the 1882 as it is slight more mellow and without the occasional sharpness I find with the Old Dublin.

Well balanced English mixture, strong in latakia, balanced, interresting and complex , virginia is not dominating. Try this one if you like Latakia! One of my favorits. A little bit stronger but definitly more complex and deeper than Comoy's English Mixture but clearly less strong than Dunhills Night Cap. An not too strong all day tabacco for Latakia Lovers.

PS: Try the "3000" blend of Besson in Lausanne, Switzerland, it's less "burning" on the tongue, less acid. See also my review about Dunhill's Nightcap for more informations.

After the screw-up with "1855," I was cautious about the manufacturer's description. What if the Danish have their own understanding of the "English blend"? The description read, "Latakia, sun-dried Orientals, mature Virginia and full-bodied Kentucky leaf are blended together to create this old-fashioned English tobacco."

The 8 digits on the round 50-gram tin referred to June 2020. I opened the tin. The tobacco was cut in fine ribbons, well mixed, different varieties easily distinguishable, from dark lemon Virginia to almost black CYPRIAN Latakia. The latter turned out to be quite a lot, which gave some hope of meeting the expectations. There was a small amount of light colored Virginia, mostly ripe, milk chocolate varieties.

The flavor of the tobacco was fully consistent with the understanding of "English blend". The smoky, woody Cypress latakia provided the main note, enhanced by the Kentucky smoke and complemented by the subtle herbal sweetness of Virginia with a slight citrus sourness. The Orientals in the whole bouquet gave a hint of tan leather and an almost subtle aroma of incense. I did not detect any flavorings. The tobacco is quite dry despite its freshness, puffs easily, but does not crumble or dust. Naturally, you can light and smoke it very easily.

The taste of the tobacco did not let me down either. It has considerably less sweetness than, say, the Boutique Blend that I have reviewed before, but the bread note is more noticeable. Plus there is a slightly astringent nuttiness, a bit of woody flavor, a smokiness of the latakia and some white pepper. The flavor is harmonious, but a little dry. It changes in the process, taking on a slightly more defined sweetness. The tobacco does not bite, burns warmly, but does not burn the pipe. The strength is medium, unchanged through the smoking process. No nicotine hit. The smoke is warm, but does not burn the tongue and does not bite. The ash is gray and loose, the tobacco leaves almost no moisture, there is no need for a filter.

The smoke has a woody, toasty note with a light scent of incense. It does not irritate people around you, it is easily dispersed.

Bottom line: despite the presence of Kentucky, the tobacco is a great English blend for every day. I hope it stays on our shelves long enough.

This blend is incredible. The unlit tobacco has a nice aroma of stewed fruit and a touch of peat smoke. With the meerschaum, a slight hint of the fruit remains but the dominant flavor is pepper with some cinnamon and cedar. However, with the Danish briar, the fruitiness is dominant with noticeable creaminess and the pepper note is much lighter. Straight from the tin, the tobacco was a bit on the wet side requiring several relights. This is a world class blend that I’m interested to see how it does with some age on it.